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Radar Bright Deposits in Mercury's Polar Craters

A radar image of Mercury's north polar region is shown superposed on a mosaic of MESSENGER images of the same area. All of the larger polar deposits are located on the floors or walls of impact craters. Deposits farther from the pole are seen to be concentrated on the north-facing sides of craters. These polar deposits have been hypothesized to consist of water ice.

Solar Storm Affects Mercury Imagery

In March 2012, a powerful solar storm affected MESSENGER's imagery. In this picture of Mercury's surface, the bright streaks and speckles result from energetic particles from the Sun hitting the charged-couple device (CCD) on the spacecraft's camera. Images acquired during the storm will have to be taken again later in the mission.

Landslides on Mercury

This impact crater, approximately 25 km (16 miles) in diameter, has been heavily modified by landslides. Portions of the crater's walls detached and slumped towards the floor, producing terraces along the wall, landslide deposits on the crater floor, and modifying the crater's outline from circular to irregular. The small bright spots on the landslide deposits (near the top of the image) may be hollows, similar to those seen in other impact craters on Mercury.

Mercury’s Peak-Ring Basins

Two prominent basins, Chekhov at the upper left and Schubert at lower right, are both just under 200 km in diameter but have very different appearances. Chekhov has a prominent peak ring and its older age is reflected in the numerous craters that have battered its rim and floor. Schubert's floor is smooth with only a hint of its peak ring peeking through.

Mercury's Scarps

A common tectonic feature found on Mercury is a scarp, or steep cliff, such as the one extending across the length of this image. Though common on Mercury, long, globally distributed scarps like this are not common on the other planets in the solar system. It is believed that the scarps formed due to Mercury's thermal history. This image was acquired by the MESSENGER spacecraft as a high-resolution targeted observation on December 31, 2011.

Mercury's Rivers of Craters

MESSENGER Explores Mercury - In Color

During MESSENGER's second flyby of Mercury, the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) acquired a strip of high-resolution images obtained with each of the Wide Angle Camera's (WAC) 11 different color filters. The graphic shown here displays the resulting enhanced-color mosaic.

Mercury - Spectacular Color

This spectacular color mosaic shows the eastern limb of Mercury as seen by MESSENGER as the spacecraft departed the planet following the mission's first Mercury flyby in January 2008. The colors of this image are not those that would be seen by the human eye but instead convey information about the distribution of different rock types on Mercury's surface. The Caloris basin, visible as a large bright yellow circular area in this image due to its infill of volcanic plains, dominates the northern region.

Mercury - Crater Ejecta and Chains of Secondary Impacts

This newly observed flat-floored crater was viewed at an oblique angle as the MESSENGER spacecraft approached Mercury for its third flyby, about two hours from closest approach. This crater is younger than nearby craters of similar size, indicated by the distinctive halo of small secondary craters that radiate outward from the central structure. Many of these secondaries are aligned in chain-like formations. Crater chains are just one of many ejecta types observed on Mercury.

Volcanism on Mercury

The mosaic, which shows the western limb of the planet with north to the right, was assembled from individual NAC images acquired as the MESSENGER spacecraft approached the planet during the second Mercury flyby. Visible in the mosaic are many lava-flooded craters and large expanses of smooth volcanic plains, which appear similar in texture to volcanically emplaced mare deposits on the Moon.

A Color View of the Solar System's Innermost Planet - Mercury

As MESSENGER approached Mercury for the mission's third and final flyby of the solar system's innermost planet, the WAC acquired images through all 11 of its narrow-band color filters. The 1,000, 700, and 430 nanometer filters were combined in red, green, and blue to create this color image, the last close-up color view that was acquired before MESSENGER went into orbit around Mercury in March of 2011. Only 6 percent of Mercury's surface in this image had not been viewed previously by spacecraft, and most of the measurements made by MESSENGER's other instruments during this flyby were made prior to closest approach. The observations from MESSENGER's third flyby of Mercury nonetheless revealed fresh surprises.

NASA/JPL

Mercury - Caloris Basin

The Caloris Basin, shown here in a 1 kilometer per pixel mosaic, is one of the largest basins in the solar system.

NASA/JPL/Northwestern University

Mercury

This mosaic shows the planet Mercury as seen by Mariner 10 as it sped away from the planet on March 29, 1974.